Sivan Tehila, M.S.

Professor and Program Director
M.S. in Cybersecurity

Expertise and Research Interests

Industrial Cybersecurity, Information Security Management, Cloud Security, Social Entrepreneurship, Technical Cybersecurity, Educational Cybersecurity, Women in Cybersecurity

Sivan Tehila, M.S.

sivan.tehila@yu.edu | 646-592-4763 | 205 Lexington Avenue, 7th FL, NYC

Sivan Tehila is a cybersecurity expert and entrepreneur with more than 15 years of experience spanning national security, critical infrastructure, private industry and higher education. She is the CEO and founder of Onyxia Cyber, an AI-driven cyber defense and strategy platform designed to help organizations improve cybersecurity performance and resilience. She also is program director and a cybersecurity professor for the M.S. in Cybersecurity at Yeshiva University’s Katz School of Science and Health, where she teaches the course “Cybersecurity Audit, Assessment, and Testing” and helps shape the next generation of cyber leaders. Drawing on her background in industrial cybersecurity, cloud security and information security management, her teaching emphasizes practical, scenario-based learning that mirrors the challenges professionals face in the field.

Tehila’s professional foundation was forged during her service in the Israel Defense Forces, where she held multiple senior intelligence and security roles. She served as an intelligence officer, CISO of the Research and Analysis Division and head of the Information Security Department in the Intelligence Corps, ultimately being honorably discharged with the rank of captain. Her military experience provided deep exposure to complex threat environments and large-scale security operations, laying the groundwork for her later leadership in government and industry.

Following her military service, Tehila led and advised cybersecurity initiatives across some of Israel’s most prominent organizations. She held senior roles at RAFAEL, Israel’s defense technology company, was a cybersecurity consultant for Israel Railways and later contributed to the growth of Perimeter 81, which was acquired by Check Point. Alongside her industry work, she has become an international speaker, author and educator, contributing to cybersecurity publications including SecurityWitch and delivering technical and educational workshops around the world.

A passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion, Tehila is the founder of Cyber Ladies NYC and has developed unique cybersecurity programs for girls, including an initiative at Manhattan High School for Girls. Her leadership and impact have been widely recognized: she was named one of SC Media’s Women to Watch and among the Top 25 Women in IT Security, and she is a two-time recipient of the Globee Awards for Achievement (Women in Business). Most recently, she was honored with the 2024 Silver Award for Woman Entrepreneur of the Year, reflecting both her success in leading Onyxia and her broader commitment to empowering women and advancing innovation in cybersecurity.

“AI is fundamentally reshaping how we defend digital systems, from automating threat detection to helping security teams think several steps ahead of attackers. But AI is only as powerful as the people guiding it, which is why we focus on teaching students how to critically assess, govern and strategically apply AI in real-world cybersecurity environments.” — Sivan Tehila